The 20 Greatest Moments of the Relentless Kerrang! Awards

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Relentless Kerrang! Awards this month, our comrades over at Kerrang! Magazine have compiled the Top 20 Greatest Moments in the event’s history.

One of the most debauched nights on the music calendar, unsurprisingly the event hasn’t been without notoriety – from Bring Me The Horizon trashing the pressroom to Slipknot setting fire to their table and, most disturbingly, Paris Hilton attending. Urgh.

Check out the Relentless Kerrang! Awards zeniths below.

Hosted by Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus and Anthrax’s Scott Ian, this year’s awards take place at The Troxy in East London on Thursday 13th June.

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The 20 Greatest Moments of the Relentless Kerrang! Awards

1. Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain arrived in a pair of flip flops at the inaugural Kerrang! Awards in 1993, possibly confusing the ceremony for a day on the beach.

2. In 2000, Slipknot set fire to their table and destroyed several chairs and some microphones – as well as picking up three K! awards. The awards remain intact in the band’s homes. Flameproof, see. 3. The following year, Green Day set fire to their own table. Whether it was an attempt to ward off the chill of the British summer or outdo Slipknot the previous year, all it caused was the whiff of burning plastic and some bemused venue staff. 4. Katie Price (then known as Jordan) will remember the 2001 Awards for two things. Namely presenting Feeder with the award for Best British Live Act, but mostly for setting fire to her own hair earlier in the day. What a trouper. 5. The 2003 bash saw live performances from The Darkness and Good Charlotte. The heat generated from The Darkness’ pyro could be felt as far afield as Croydon. 6. In 2006, Placebo arrived on the red carpet in an ambulance, and Meat Loaf on a flatbed truck lined with hay. All cabs in the capital were presumably booked that evening. 7. In 1995, Princess Diana and Tony Blair were invited for the first time (and replied with RSVPs). A less socially active monkey managed to clear space in their diary several years later, though (see 20). 8. In 2000, Queens Of The Stone Age walked away with the Best International Newcomer accolade. Clad all in white, the band told staff they were dressed to look like cocaine. They looked more like happy bags of flour to the casual observer. 9. Bullet For My Valentine and Bring Me The Horizon wrecked the Kerrang! Awards photoroom during a very drunken playfight in 2006. The whole sorry incident can be found online if you look for it. 10. Marilyn Manson was inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 2000. The perfect opportunity, then, to wear some sort of tight rubber suit customised with a horsetail-squirrel ensemble. Anyway, you can’t find this outfit in Debenhams. Not for love or money. 11. In 2003, Paris Hilton attended with Sum 41 boyfriend Deryck Whibley. At 1.73m, Paris was the taller of the two by three centimetres, although this is probably not the cause of the breakdown of their relationship. 12. Before he started flogging car insurance with a puppet, Iggy Pop was inducted into Kerrang!’s Hall Of Fame in 2001. “I don’t know what this means,” he drawled, “but if it means I rock, thanks.” 13. Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor presented the 2009 bash with Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian. The vocalist accepted awards for Best Live Band and Best International Band while wearing a cloth bag over his head with a face drawn on for good measure. 14. In the same year, Dirty Sanchez’s Dan Joyce was thrown out for urinating on former reality TV star Big Brother 3's Alex Sibley. Joyce was later seen rubbing horse manure into his own face, possibly for its rejuvenating properties. 15. The Kerrang! Awards has its casualties, too. The Blackout guitarist James Davies took full advantage of the free booze at the 2009 ceremony. He was spotted bedding down for the night in a bus stop, with Slayer’s guitarist Kerry King standing over him, laughing and not offering to get him a blanket. 16. In 2002, Dave Grohl arrived to the ceremony arm in arm with two women. Well, his future wife Jordyn Blum and his mother Virginia. His band, Foo Fighters were presented with the Hall Of Fame award by Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. Not a bad night, really. 17. That same year, Spaced star Simon Pegg spent ages talking to anyone who’d listen about a zombie film he’d started work on. Shaun Of The… something? But anyway, look at him now, beaming people up onto his own spaceship and that. 18. Soccer ace Mario Balotelli was nominated for the Hero Of The Year category in 2012, despite never appearing in the pages of the magazine. He lost out to Enter Shikari’s Rou Reynolds, who has. Like, loads. 19. 30 Seconds To Mars picked up two gongs at Best International Band and Best Single. Their fanbase – known as the Echelon – went seven shades of hysterical when Jared Leto went outside to pose for pictures. 20.In 2007, Fall Out Boy arrived with a monkey riding on the shoulders of Pete Wentz, accompanied by his now ex-wife Ashlee Simpson. The simian guest was called Kate and the pair have not communicated since. Monkeys are rubbish on Twitter.